It's Gonna Take A Little Time... A Little Time To Think Things Over...

Chapter 14: Drinking Problem

TW: ALCOHOL INTAKE, UNAPPROVED KISS, ANXIETY

DAVID
I blinked at the sunlight seeping through my window. I sat up, and noticed the neighbors driving to work. I realized with a jolt, that it was Friday. I had gotten a couple days off because of the lab incident, but I was back in business today. I stood up and noticed my legs shaking. I looked down and noticed that the back of my knees were bruised from where I hit the railing. I walked to my wardrobe and put on some long tan pants and my yellow and navy striped shirt from Halloween.

I walked to the bathroom and as I finished brushing my teeth I gasped. My jaw was a purplish red bruise. Oh shit. Oh shit. What the hell was I supposed to do?! I looked around frantically and saw Brenda's concealer from her last stay. I put it on my fingers and dabbed it all on my face. To my utter shock, you couldn't tell it was there, or that I was wearing makeup! I heaved a sigh of relief, grabbed my bag, and went downstairs.

I saw Linda making bacon and eggs while humming Material Girl to herself. I saw Dad reading the paper and drinking coffee. I akwardly sat down across from him, and fiddled with the wood grain on the table. Dad put his paper down and asked "How are you feeling?" I looked up and saw with shock, a slight smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Fine." I muttered and started to fidget again.

Why did he smile? Did he remember? I looked up and got my answer. He sure as hell did remember. "How's your face champ?" He then turned to Linda and said "Tonight let's go on a date Linda." Linda turned a ecstatic look on her face. Dad rarely ever asked for her to go on a date with him. I stood up and blurted "Dad, since you and Linda won't be home for a while, may I spend the night with one of my friends?" Dad looked up glaring. "Which one?" I thought quickly. Dad would say no if I said Exer, so instead I said "Ronald."

Dad thought for a minute, and after a look from Linda, he agreed. I smiled stood up and pulled a beer can out of my pocket and dropped it right on the newspaper. "Don't forget to clean your cans up Dad, someone could have tripped." I then bolted out of the house.

EXER

I smiled and saw David run out of his house and he jumped onto the seat. "Hey Day!" I was about to kiss him on the cheek but remembered how he hit me with a bag last time. Oh yeah, and Jackson was in the backseat clutching the car with fear of falling out. I gunned the car down the road and swerved to the school. We parked and got out. Jackson ran over to Pamela and the lollipop guild while David approached Ron and Brenda.

"Are you guys going to go to Jolie's party tonight, it's gonna be gargantuan!" Squealed Brenda. Ron nodded and David looked like he was thinking for a moment and nodded. I noticed as we walked to class, that David had a very faint limp. You could barely see it, but his face said it all. He was clenching his teeth and his fingernails were digging into his palms.

I pulled David aside. "You okay?" He nodded nervously and said in a sunshine voice "I'm fine Ex!" He then walked into physics and sat down. I sat next to him and started thinking about this. I'm sure he was fine. We went through two classes and had lunch. David said he didn't want to eat, which was odd because he always ate a lot of food.

After the next two classes we walked into the sunshine of the afternoon and waited for Bre and Ron. We all got in the car and drove to get milkshakes. Ronald sucked back a raspberry milkshake and I sipped a caramel one. David just took a taste of mine and was done. I looked at him questionly and touched my knee to his. He smiled and stated "I am saving room for the party!"